Center Stage
by xBREAKiNGFREE
Summary: [Troy&Gabriella] It's the opening night of the winter musical, and Gabriella Montez isn't sure she's ready. Can Troy Bolton change her mind? [Oneshot]


**Center Stage**

**- - -**

Musical director Kelsi Nielsen hurried into the gym, where the East High Wildcats were running drills. Among the players was their captain, Troy Bolton. Kelsi caught his eye and gestured for him to come over.

"Troy, I think you should go backstage," Kelsi told him when he complied. "I know you're not needed for another hour or so, but Gabriella's not doing so well."

Troy stopped mid-dribble and passed the basketball to Chad Danforth. "Gabriella?" he repeated, his face now highlighted with worry.

"It's nothing serious," Kelsi said quickly. "She's just… she's _nervous_, to put it mildly."

"Mildly?" Troy was already putting his jacket back on and gathering his stuff.

"Um…" Kelsi didn't look all too pleased to be sharing the news. "Well, she's in tears."

"_Damn_," he muttered. "Thanks, Kelsi. I'm going. Later, Chad."

He ran out of the gym, not caring in the slightest how tired he was. The only thing on his mind was Gabriella.

Bursting through the doors to the backstage of the auditorium, the first thing he saw was a tearful Gabriella Montez, who was in a chair surrounded by a few members of the musical who were trying in vain to comfort her.

"Gabriella," he panted, hurrying over. "What's wrong?"

As discreetly as they could, the other cast members backed away. This did not go unnoticed by Gabriella, who called weakly after them, "Thank you…"

Troy couldn't help smiling. Even though she was in tears, she never failed to think about other people.

He knelt in front of her. "Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"

A few more tears were the only response.

He didn't have a tissue and neither did she, so he gently brushed the tears away with his finger.

"Don't cry," he said soothingly. "Today's supposed to be a great day, remember? We've worked so hard to get here. It's opening night for _Twinkle Towne_. Or did you forget?" he teased, trying to coax a smile onto her face.

It didn't work. She only cried harder.

"Gabriella…" Troy said desperately, wiping away more tears, "you have to tell me what's wrong so I can help you."

"It's _opening night_," she whispered finally. "Troy, I don't think I can do this."

"You can," he said immediately. "Of course you can. You're Gabriella Montez," he grinned. "You can do anything you want to."

When she stubbornly shook her head, he continued encouragingly.

"Just like the first time we sang, remember? Just like kindergarten! We can do this together."

"It's not the same, Troy. This is so much more than the callbacks. We've worked so hard and you've sacrificed so much to do this… all the effort everyone has put in… and it all comes down to _this_. What if I don't do as well as everyone expected me to? What if I disappoint everyone? What if I disappoint _you_?" Her voice trembled. "I don't even know how to express all my worries and everything that could go wrong."

"Gabriella," Troy said softly, reaching for his girlfriend's hands and holding them in both of his. "You could _never_ disappoint me. How could you even think that? And you're right; this _is_ much more than the callbacks, we _have_ worked hard for this, and we have _both_ sacrificed a lot, but you're wrong about one part. You're not going to disappoint everyone. You've been _amazing_ during rehearsals and you're great at everything – there's no way you're going to screw it all up suddenly."

"I've always had stage fright. It's possible."

"No, it's not." Troy gave her hands a gentle squeeze. "You were so scared at the callbacks, remember? But you were _incredible_."

She shook her head modestly. "But this is everything we've been building up to… and I just don't want to mess it up."

"You won't," he said comfortingly. "I'm so proud of you, Gabriella, and everything you've done so far. I know you're going to do great tonight."

"Thank you," she murmured, taking a deep breath.

"Anytime." He kissed her lightly.

"Now, let's take your mind off this for a while," he offered. "How do you feel about a game of cards?"

She smiled at him genuinely. "That would be nice."

**- - -**

"Bolton, Montez, what are you doing? Go rehearse a few more times!" Mrs. Darbus demanded, striding into the area with a stressed face. "A lot is riding on this musicale, you know! People are expecting one of the _best_ productions East High has ever seen!"

Troy glanced at Gabriella instinctively. Sure enough, she had paled considerably.

"It's okay," he mouthed to her. "We'll practice right now," he added, nodding at Mrs. Darbus.

"See to it," she said, casting a stern glance their way. "And now I must make sure everything else is in order…" She swept away, presumably to shout at some other members of the cast and crew.

"Shit," Gabriella said loudly, her eyes already watering.

Troy couldn't help staring at her for a few seconds. He'd never heard Gabriella swear before.

"Don't worry. You know how dramatic Darbus is; she just exaggerates a lot. You're going to stun everyone, just like you always do."

"I'm not ready, Troy!" Gabriella swiped at her face, frustrated. "I'm not used to being in the spotlight. This is the first time I've ever done _anything_ like this in my life."

"Neither am I," Troy assured her. "_Really_," he added at her skeptical look. "This is different than a basketball game in a lot of ways. But everything's gonna be fine, Gabriella. I can promise you that. You'll blow everyone away."

She smiled weakly. "I'm sorry for being so dramatic. I'm just so nervous, but that's no excuse for being such a crybaby. You have better things to do, and yet you're staying here trying to comfort me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that."

"Hey, don't apologize," he said warmly. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring out that smile. You're not being a pain and I'm damn lucky to be able to spend time with my beautiful, talented girlfriend. And in case you haven't noticed, Gabriella, I'm nervous too." He shot her a small smile.

She giggled. "You're doing a good job of hiding it."

"I hope so," he grinned. "But can I tell you something?"

Gabriella nodded. "Of course you can."

Troy looked straight into her eyes. "I know this is going to come off pretty corny, but I just wanted to say that meeting you has been the best thing in my life, and there's no one in this world that I'd rather be with. I know you said you've never been in the spotlight, Gabriella, but you've always been center stage to me, ever since you first came into my life."

Despite the tears that were still streaming down her cheeks, Gabriella beamed at him. "Troy, that wasn't corny at all… That was the sweetest thing anyone has _ever_ said to me."

He chuckled. "I try, Gabriella. But there are no words to express how I feel for you."

"I understand what you're saying," she said earnestly. "Suddenly, everything has changed for me. I'm not just a freaky math girl, and I'm not nearly as afraid as I was. I believe in so many things again. I'm _happy_. That's all because of _you_, Troy. I owe you everything."

She leaned forward and kissed him.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For being the most wonderful person in my life."

"No," he smiled, "thank _you_ for just being you, Gabriella."

**- - -**

"You go on stage in five minutes," Kelsi informed them excitedly. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Kelsi. For _everything_ you've done for us." Gabriella was sporting a brilliant smile that lit up the room.

"We've got something for you, playmaker. We'll give it to you at the wrap party."

Kelsi grinned at both of them. "I've worked so hard on these songs. They're my best work so far, and I couldn't pick a better pair to be singing them," she said sincerely.

The last hour had been filled with family and friends, who had dropped by to wish their loved ones good luck one more time before taking their seats. Gabriella had remained calm the entire time, thanking everyone and holding Troy's hand. In fact, the only time she had left Troy's side was when she had to go into wardrobe and get her hair and makeup done. But now…

This was their moment; this was _the_ moment.

Kelsi walked away to check the sound system one last time, and Troy turned to Gabriella, who was looking rather nervous again but excited all the same.

"Are you ready?" he asked, smiling.

"Yes," she said, as confidently as she could. "I'm anxious, though."

"Me too. But that's normal."

"I know." She took a few deep breaths, trying to soothe her nerves, but grinned at him anyway. "I can't believe it's _opening night_," she breathed. "We're going to perform. In front of everyone. On stage. Together," she said disbelievingly. "_Wow_."

"Wow is right," Troy agreed. "You're going to be the star of the show."

"_We're_ going to be the stars!" Gabriella corrected, bouncing up and down on her toes.

"Troy, Gabriella! _It's time_!" Kelsi's voice rang clearly throughout the vicinity.

Troy looked at Gabriella, reaching for her hand and giving it a light squeeze. There were so many things he wanted to say to her before they went on stage, and yet he couldn't find the right words. A few simple phrases ran through his head; _good luck_, _break a leg_, _we can do this_, _let's go give it all we got_… and still none of them seemed right.

There was only one thing that had been left unsaid that Troy now knew he wanted to say.

"I love you, Gabriella."

The last thing he saw was her look of astonishment before Mrs. Darbus pushed them onto the stage with an enthusiastic, "Break a leg!"

**- - -**

Hand in hand, Troy and Gabriella took their last bows with the rest of the _Twinkle Towne_ cast as the audience whooped and cheered as loudly as they could.

_A standing ovation_.

Troy's smile couldn't have been any wider as the curtain lowered dramatically. He caught a glimpse of a jubilant Gabriella, who was beaming uncontrollably, and winked at her.

She had done perfectly, as he had known she would.

Everything they had done, everything they had gone through… it had all been worth it.

As the curtain fell and the audience disappeared from view, Troy turned to Gabriella and kissed her on the cheek. "You were _unbelievable_! I told you that you had nothing to worry about!"

She looked thrilled. "You were amazing, too, Troy!" she said ecstatically. "Wow, I had so much fun…"

"Me too, Gabriella, me too."

Abruptly, she looked rather hesitant. "Troy," she began timidly. "Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything, Gabriella. What's on your mind?"

"Before we went on stage, I thought I heard you say… you loved me," she said nervously. "Did you really say that?"

"I said it, and I definitely meant it. You've made me a better person, Gabriella, and I've never been this happy until you came into my life. I love you with all my heart."

Gabriella threw her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Troy!" she whispered happily. "More than I could ever say…"

Troy kissed her energetically, only pulling away when they were both out of breath.

"This has been one of the best nights of my life," Gabriella said truthfully, a smile gracing her beautiful features. "It's right up there next to when you first asked me out, on triple threat day."

Troy laughed and held on to both of her hands. "What can I say, Gabriella? We were meant to be together, center stage."

**- - -**

**A/N**: Hey, everyone. Just to clear a few things up, Troy and Gabriella were already dating when this story began, and yes, it was the first time that they told the other they loved each other. It actually was pretty hard for me to write, because it's challenging to capture all the emotions that I imagined Troy and Gabriella to be feeling during the course of this story.

**Thanks a million to my wonderful, amazing beta, Amazon Ziti.** She has made this story so much better than it originally was. If you haven't read her HSM story, _Be Who We Are_, I strongly recommend that you do that right away; it's fantastic!

Thanks for reading. Please make my day and review.

**---Cira (xBREAKiNGFREE) **


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